Fitchburg State University Overview

Fitchburg State University is a public institution located in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The suburban atmosphere of Fitchburg makes it a great place for students who want the amenities of city life without actually living in the middle of a constant hustle and bustle.

What Is Fitchburg State University Known For?

• Although it may not be available for every major, the post-master's certificate is the highest award a student can attain at Fitchburg State.
• In 2017-2018, 53% of the faculty were full-time.
• A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Fitchburg State makes roughly $45,700 a year. This is 12% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Fitchburg State University Rankings

We have ranked Fitchburg State as #339 out of 2,320 colleges and universities in the country in our 2021 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Fitchburg State.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Human Services Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Behavioral Science Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#7	Best Curriculum & Instruction Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#10	Best Physiology & Pathology Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#22	Best Public Administration & Social Service Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#33	Best Education Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#36	Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#133	Best Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Fitchburg State has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#1	Best Value Colleges for Interdisciplinary Studies	College Factual
#7	Best Colleges for Human Services	College Factual
#28	Best Value Colleges for Public Administration & Social Service	College Factual
#30	Best Value Colleges for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	College Factual
#31	Best Value Colleges for Biological & Biomedical Sciences	College Factual
#131	Best Nursing Schools	Nursing Degree Search

Where Is Fitchburg State University?

Contact details for Fitchburg State are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	160 Pearl St, Fitchburg, MA 01420-2697
Phone:	978-345-2151
Website:	www.fitchburgstate.edu
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/FitchburgStateUniversity
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/Fitchburg_State

How Do I Get Into Fitchburg State?

You can apply to Fitchburg State online at: www.fitchburgstate.edu/admissions/applying/

Admission Requirements for Fitchburg State

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	neither required nor recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Fitchburg State?

The acceptance rate at Fitchburg State University is 80%. This means that is not quite as selective as some schools, but you'll still need to submit a good application if you want to be considered by the admissions department.

Approximately 39% of accepted students are men and 61% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 77%, and the acceptance rate for women is 82%.

Average Test Scores

About 92% of students accepted to Fitchburg State submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 490 and 580. Math scores were between 480 and 560.

Fitchburg State received ACT scores from 7% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 19 and 23. Math scores were between 19 and 23. Composite scores were between 19 and 23.

Can I Afford Fitchburg State University?

The overall average net price of Fitchburg State is $25,540. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Fitchburg State, approximately 78% of students took out student loans averaging $7,134 a year. That adds up to $28,536 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Fitchburg State is 6.5%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.

Fitchburg State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 4,163 undergraduate students at Fitchburg State, with 3,319 being full-time and 844 being part-time.

There are also 3,036 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 3,319 full-time undergraduates at Fitchburg State, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Fitchburg State University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	74
Black or African American	367
Hispanic or Latino	437
White	2,256
International Students	14
Other Races/Ethnicities	171

Geographic Diversity

Massachusetts students aren't the only ones who study at Fitchburg State University. At this time, 16 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 28 countries are represented at Fitchburg State. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, China, and Germany.

Online Learning at Fitchburg State University

There are 3 bachelor’s degree and 6 master’s degree programs available online at Fitchburg State. In 2017-2018, 5,033 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Fitchburg State has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 9th most popular in Massachusetts for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.

Online Growth Rankings of Fitchburg State

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Fitchburg State University was 53.7%. This is the #481 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Fitchburg State regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Fitchburg State majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Accounting	85%
Business Administration & Management	45%
Business, Management & Marketing	55%
Computer & Information Sciences	11%
Curriculum & Instruction	20%
Education	15%
Educational Administration	53%
Health Professions	3%
Human Resource Management	75%
Nursing	3%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Fitchburg State ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Fitchburg State.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
History	#3
History	#3
Computer Software & Applications	#8
Human Resource Management	#11
Curriculum & Instruction	#14
Teacher Education Grade Specific	#28
Accounting	#29
Educational Administration	#30
Computer & Information Sciences	#38
Nursing	#71
Education	#82
Business Administration & Management	#120
Health Professions	#129
Business, Management & Marketing	#155

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Fitchburg State University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	TOTAL
Business Administration & Management	93	0	198	291
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	168	168
Special Education	6	0	106	112
Nursing	92	0	9	101
Interdisciplinary Studies	92	4	0	96
Human Resource Management	0	0	88	88
Criminal Justice & Corrections	54	0	3	57
General Biology	51	0	2	53
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	50	0	0	50
Computer Science	24	0	23	47
Design & Applied Arts	47	0	0	47
Teacher Education Grade Specific	25	0	20	45
General Psychology	40	2	0	42
Accounting	0	0	33	33
Communication & Media Studies	27	1	3	31
Human Services	31	0	0	31
Industrial Production Technology	29	0	0	29
Physiology & Pathology Sciences	28	0	0	28
Teacher Education Subject Specific	21	0	7	28
Educational Administration	0	15	4	19
Behavioral Science	0	16	0	16
History	11	0	4	15
Political Science & Government	14	0	0	14
Writing Studies	12	0	0	12
General English Literature	8	0	2	10
Drama & Theater Arts	9	0	0	9
Sociology	8	0	0	8
Architectural Sciences & Technology	7	0	0	7
Student Counseling	0	0	7	7
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	7	7
Health & Physical Education	6	0	0	6
Economics	6	0	0	6
Geological & Earth Sciences	5	0	0	5
Chemistry	4	0	0	4
Child Development & Psychology	4	0	0	4
Geography & Cartography	4	0	0	4
Environmental Control Technology	3	0	0	3
Mathematics	3	0	0	3
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	1	0	0	1
Public Relations & Advertising	0	0	0	0
Computer Information Systems	0	0	0	0
Computer Programming	0	0	0	0
Computer Software & Applications	0	0	0	0
General Education	0	0	0	0
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	0	0	0
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	0	0
Public Administration	0	0	0	0
Arts & Media Management	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	815	38	684	1,537

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Found5dollar under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.